{% include "includes/auth/janrain/signIn_traditional.html" with message='It looks like you are already verified. If you still have trouble signing in, you probably need a new confirmation link email.' %}

Hobe Sound’s Freddie Jacobson a national spokesman for First Tee

Hobe Sound resident Freddie Jacobson is one of the many PGA Tour pros who give back without expecting any accolades.

Jacobson, 39, who coached his 5-year-old son’s soccer team this past fall, has forged a relationship with the national First Tee organization, which professes to promote life skills and leadership through golf to the nation’s youth.

“I got an opportunity to be an ambassador,” Jacobson said after Thursday’s pro-am at the Franklin Templeton Shootout in Naples. “I’ve spent a little time with the local group but also (been) on the road for the local tournaments. I’ve met up with some of the chapters on the road. I just got started in the second half of this year. I’ve met some of the kids, so I’ve spent a little time there, and I look forward to continuing the relationship. I also want to do more with the Treasure Coast group.”

One of the more outgoing and personable members of the Tour, the ever-smiling Jacobson said his involvement probably goes back to how he deals with his own three kids, ages 9, 7 and 5.

“It’s just so much fun spending time around them, and it gives you energy too,” he said. “It’s not only me giving time to them; you get a lot back. I was with (heart transplant recipient) Eric Compton on a day up in Massachusetts at the end of the year and it was a ton of fun. So it’ll be a different thing along the way.”

By his own admission, Jacobson, a native of Gothenberg, Sweden, doesn’t have the most natural swing. After a strong start to last season, he struggled the second half and wound up 66th in the FedEx standings, easily keeping his card but not meeting his own expectations.

“I had a pretty good year, ” he said, “but didn’t have any really consistent finishes after the first part of the year. Played really well on the West Coast and played steady but didn’t get any big weeks.” His best finishes came in February, when he had a third at the Northern Trust and seventh at Pebble Beach, both on the West Coast swing. But after the calendar flipped to June he made only 3-of-7 cuts and did no better than 30th at the Travelers.

He’s already played four events in the first part of the 2013-14 schedule and has impressed with a ninth at Las Vegas and a 12th at the Mayacoba in Mexico.

“It was nice to have a couple of good weeks, that was my goal,” he said. “I was hoping to have one or two (events) where I felt I was in contention. So I got that accomplished, and you get a few points heading into next year.”

Jacobson likes the new split schedule _ featuring six events at the end of the year, followed by a break, followed by the restart in January in Hawaii _ and feels it will catch on as his fellow Tour players get used to it.

“Just like the FedEx Cup built after it started, and then the guys kind of changed what they (were) doing for many years. As time has gone on that’s become a huge success. With the fall tournaments over the next few years we’ll see better and better fields each year. As they see guys coming out with a win, you’ll see that the guys who (aren’t playing now) are going to start playing those as well.”